Rivets: Average between 3-6mm
wide heads & 3.3mm thick (across all plates). On the main plate
they are ~3.5mm wide gap (leather thickness)

Rolled over front piece has
3.23mm gap (for leather) and prior to being rolled was 1.2cm wide.

Tabs over the buckle to hold
it in place are 7-8mm wide

Side decoration curved area
are on average 11mm long.

The opening in the center of
the buckle plate is 3.5cm long and 2cm wide.

Buckle:

2.6-3mm thick, 4.7cm long and
6.32mm wide.

Tongue is 4.8mm wide and 2mm
thick.

Second piece: 7.0cm
long x 6.8cm wide

Rivets: 2mm wide gap front &
4.47mm gap at back

Third piece: 7.0cm
long x 6.8cm wide

Rivets: 5.76mm & 4.37mm
wide gap front & 4.26mm gap at back.

Rolled over front piece is
1.5cm wide prior to being rolled.

Roman Empire

350 AD to approximately 420
AD

Description

Three bronze belt plates
from a late Roman Legionary. These three plates can be broken down
into two descriptive
sections.

1.)
The Buckle plate, consists of a buckle loop with two serpent/dragon
decorations facing the hinge. The heads of the serpents are clear
and have two eyes, a gaping mouth, ears and scales (two parallel lines at
the neck). The buckle
tongue is
smooth except for
four groves running parallel near its base. The tongue
also comes to a sharp curved point. The actual
decorated plate is well preserved with one side
raised in a tubular fashion, while the remaining edges have a decorative
consecutive wavy pattern. The tubular side has parallel lines
engraved into it that run vertically along its surface. The surface of the plate is also highly decorated
(chip-carved). There are two circles with triangular insides
surrounded by a multiple small "triangles" defining a border. The remainder of the plate has
flower or a clover leaf pattern, as well as a Zig Zag line that divides
the two circles. A border consisting of wavy lines in the shape of
"S's" surrounds the chip-carving and divides this design from the outer
edging. Three rivets remain in place where they would have attached
to the leather belt. The rivets are curved over at the end (see
measurements above), indicating that the leather was once that thick. The reverse
shows how the bronze "hinges" were bent back and held in place by the
third rivet.

2.)The two secondary plate look similar, but
are in fact slightly different in their decorative appearance. The
central circular motive is different on each plate. The first plate
has a simpler chip carved design, while the second one is more elaborate
including a second ring of design within the S shaped border. They are both pentagonal in
shape with the same wavy border as the Buckle plate. This surrounds
the edges, expect for the two raised tubular sides.
The
tubular side has parallel lines engraved into it that run vertically along
its surface.The
remainder of the plates have a flower or a clover leaf pattern that fills
in any empty space. Another border consisting of wavy lines in the
shape of "S's" surrounds the whole plate and acts as a divider from the
wavy edging. Four rivets would have held the plate to the
leather, however each one only has three remaining in place. The rivets
are curved over at the end (see measurements above) indicating that the leather was
once that thick.

A dark green & ocean blue
patina covers all the plates and they are all in an excellent state of preservation.

This belt type matches
one of the ones found at Oudenburg (Belgium). They were generally
between 5-10mm wide with a rectangular and pentagonal sections. They
had the distinctive decorative chip-carved pattern which had a wide range
of design. A very artistic feature for these belts, that surpassed
many of the simpler earlier belts. The
integrated buckle loop usually had a
dolphin/Dragon(serpent) design which met at the hinge as opposed to
head-head as earlier styles commonly did.
(See a great buckle website
Late Roman Buckles in Britain)
Many of the plates had a tubular edging on one of the sides.
Usually accompanying these belts was a similarly designed narrow vertical
slide where the belt end would pass through. The belt tip also
normally had a small matching tongue or circular terminal. (see
Baldric Belt Tip)

Scholars had previously
associated this type of belt as Germanic in style, however recent views
are changing this simple designation. There are many Roman marbel or
stone reliefs
that show these type of belts and many of the known examples have
"classical" motifs, normally associated with the Roman Empire. Furthermore very
few examples exist outside
of the Roman frontier in Free Germany. The Roman army by this time
had incorporated large Germanic elements especially in the West so their
influence on style
was no doubt felt. This suggests their use
by normal Roman soldiers/Legionaries, military officials and officers as
well as German equipped soldiers.

The belt
was an important part of the Roman Legionary's equipment and uniform and during the
4th Century they were still highly decorated and works of art. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

Analysis of the belt
plates to determine orientation on the belt:

The rivets and their
depth/spacing at the back provide a very telling piece of evidence on the
belt leather thickness. Using these measurements a logical placement
of the belts can be done to correspond with a belt and the applicable rear
pieces of leather.

When the two triangular
plates are laid out, they clearly indicate thicker leather than the main
buckle piece. Also the one end of one plate has very small gaps in
the rivets.

This can be logically
explained by a system where by the main leather belt piece goes around the
body and has the main buckle plate attached at one end. Near to the
part where the leather would join again, a second piece of leather is
added. This leather piece runs along in behind the second and
continues to act as a "backing" to the where the two belt ends join.
The first triangular buckle attaches through these two layers of
leather (Which is why the rivets are longer). The
second triangular plate attached through both layers at the beginning, and
then only through the top layer, which has now been cut and shaped to the
plate and forms the long tie section. This tapered section then feeds
through the opening in the buckle plate and then continued on through the
vertical slide and finally looping around the belt once or twice.

A visual representation
of this is as follows. First a drawing from BOHME, Horst's book (6) and
then an example of how it would look as described above attached to the
leather.

This system is supported
by other buckle plates and their rivet measurements as detailed in the book
by YPEY (7)

A similar museum examples from the Archaeological Museum,
Munich.(photo from
www.romancoins.info )